Billionaire hedge fund CEO Bill Ackman and a growing number of other business leaders are demanding Harvard University release the names of the students who signed a letter blaming Israel for the deadly attacks by Hamas, CNN reports.

“One should not be able to hide behind a corporate shield when issuing statements supporting the actions of terrorists,” Ackman, Pershing chief executive officer, said on X.

“I would like to know so I know never to hire these people,” Jonathan Neman, CEO of restaurant chain Sweetgreen, said on X. Neman is one of at least 12 Wall Street CEOs who are demanding the names of the Harvard students be released.

Ackman continued: “I have been asked by a number of CEOs if Harvard would release a list of the members of each of the Harvard organizations that have issued the letter assigning sole responsibility for Hamas’ heinous acts to Israel, so as to insure that none of us inadvertently hire any of their members.”

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The controversy arose after a coalition of 34 Harvard student groups, called the Harvard Palestine Solidarity Groups, released a joint statement following the attacks by Hamas that have killed more than 1,200 Israelis and 22 American citizens.

“We, the undersigned student organizations, hold the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence,” the Harvard Palestine Solidarity Groups wrote.

They went on to say that millions of Palestinians living in Gaza have been “forced to live in an open-air prison. The apartheid regime is the only one to blame. Israeli violence has structured every aspect of Palestinian existence for 75 years.” They called on Harvard to “take action to stop the ongoing annihilation of Palestinians.”

The Harvard students issued their statement with a footnote at the bottom saying that the names of the “original signing organizations have been concealed at this time.”

Harvard President Claudine Gay issued a statement Tuesday denouncing the joint statement, saying “no student group — not even 30 student groups — speaks for Harvard University or its leadership.”

Dovehill Capital Management CEO Jake Wurzak joined Ackman and Neman in condemning the statement of the Harvard Palestine Solidarity Groups.

“Free speech is paramount,” Wurzak wrote on X. “Words have meaning, and students shouldn’t be allowed to hide behind an institution.”

Retractions

According to Harvard’s student newspaper, the Harvard Crimson, at least five of the original 34 signatories withdrew their endorsements as of Tuesday night.

One, the Harvard Undergraduate Nepali Student Association, posted on Instagram, “We regret” that our decision to sign the statement was “interpreted as a tacit support for the recent violent attacks in Israel. To ensure that our stance on the condemnation of violence by Hamas and support for a just peace remains clear, we retract our signatures from the statement.”

Likewise, a student group in support of immigrants, Act on a Dream, told the Crimson it signed the statement in error, that it was a “result of miscommunication and a lack of due diligence in sharing the statement with the entirety of the board.”

Following these initial denouncements, 3,000 Harvard students, 17 other groups at the university, and 500 faculty and staff signed a counter-statement attacking the initial anti-semitic letter from the Harvard Palestine Solidarity Groups as “completely wrong and deeply offensive,” the Crimson reported.

Nearly 160 faculty members also voiced their concern, slamming Harvard’s tepid response to the anti-Israel disparagement, writing that it “can be seen as nothing less than condoning the mass murder of civilians based only on their nationality.”

Other groups responded to Ackman saying that some students in their organizations were not aware of the joint letter’s content or that the alliances, of which they are members, were issuing the statement.

Anti-Defamation League President Jonathan Greenblatt told CNN Wednesday he was not sure that the names of the students connected with the joint statement should be released — but that they needed to take individual responsibility.

“It’s an outrageously offensive piece, and anyone who signed it should either stand behind it and face the consequences in life — or apologize and explain themselves,” Greenblatt said.

“This is what we learn to do in elementary school,” Greenblatt continued. “It’s hard for me to understand why it’s complicated for people at Harvard University.”

At least one individual has stepped forward. Danielle Mikaelian, a Harvard Law Student who is a board member of one of the groups that co-signed the letter, said she resigned due to the “egregious” statements in the letter, the New York Post reports.

“I am sorry for the pain this caused. My organization did not have a formal process and I didn’t even see the statement until we had signed on,” Mikaelian said on X.

Signatories

The New York Post published the list of the “pro-Hamas” groups at Harvard that signed the letter.

They are: African American Resistance Organization; Bengali Association of Students at Harvard College; Harvard Act on a Dream; Harvard Arab Medical and Dental Student Association; Harvard Chan Muslim Student Association; Harvard Chan Students for Health Equity and Justice in Palestine; Harvard College Pakistan Student Association; Harvard Divinity School Muslim Association; Harvard Middle Eastern and North African Law Student Association; Harvard Graduate School of Education Islamic Society; Harvard Graduate Students for Palestine; Harvard Islamic Society; Harvard Law School Justice for Palestine; Harvard Divinity School Students for Justice in Palestine; Harvard Jews for Liberation; Harvard Kennedy School Bangladesh Caucus; Harvard Kennedy School Muslim Caucus; Harvard Kennedy School Muslim Women’s Caucus; Harvard Kennedy School Palestine Caucus; Harvard Muslim Law School Association; Harvard Pakistan Forum; Harvard Prison Divest Coalition; Harvard South Asian Law Students Association; Harvard South Asians for Forward-Thinking Advocacy and Research; Harvard TPS Coalition; Harvard Undergraduate Arab Women’s Collective; Harvard Undergraduate Ghungroo; Harvard Undergraduate Muslim Women’s Medical Alliance; Harvard Undergraduate Nepali Students Association; Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee; Middle East and North African Graduate School of Design Student Society; Neighbor Program Cambridge; Sikhs and Companions of Harvard Undergraduates; and Society of Arab Students.

Read Newsmax: CEOs: Blacklist Harvard Students Who Signed Anti-Israel Letter | Newsmax.com

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